Date of Award

12-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics

Department

Aeronautics and Astronautics

First Advisor

James Garrison

Committee Chair

James Garrison

Committee Member 1

Arthur Frazho

Committee Member 2

Rashmi Shah

Abstract

Snow and ice processes are a critical part of the Earth’s hydrological and climate cycles. These processes can serve as an important source of fresh water as well as a cause of flooding. Various missions have been proposed by NASA and ESA for the purpose of remote sensing of snow. This research looks at applying bistatic radar reflectometry to the remote sensing of snow water equivalent. The resulting phase offset from changes in optical path length due to reflection through snow are the primary measurements made. The research uses data from a field campaign in Fraser, CO, involving an instrument collecting direct and reflected from S band during Jan 2015 – Apr 2015. Phase measurements from the field data are made from the two signals and compared to theoretical phase computed from a forward model using in situ data. A moderate correlation (>0.6) is found between the measured and modeled phase.

Download

Share

COinS